Boingy Leaf Outlines

When I last left the Golden Pomegranate, it was late September of 2011 and I had finished couching down the stem. About a week later, I took the class on the Persian Peony Tile and so put the poor Pomegranate on hold. But at least I planted a pomegranate tree.  Originally, I had this project in a hoop but took it out when I realized I would not be working on it for a while. But this week I put it into an Evertite frame, and what a difference that makes! Now the fabric is stretched tightly, with no off-grain pulling anywhere. I definitely recommend these frames - they make stitching an exacting project such as this so much easier than using a hoop, even one of those sit upon hoops.

As you can see, I'm now at the point of outlining the leaves with pearl purl, couched down with yellow machine sewing thread. I pulled the pearl purl just a tiny bit, so it won't be so boingy and will be easier to work with. Thanks, Mary, for that tip! Well, it's still pretty fiddly and not at all easy to work with, although stretching the pearl purl ever so slightly does seem to make couching it a bit easier. The thread pops right into the coils very easily, becoming quite invisible. 

I've only managed to complete three of them before I had to quit and go do something else. I'll do a few more, then maybe move on to the bright check for the dot between the leaves and the bottom of the pomegranate. I know there are biological names for these parts, and I'll look them up eventually. The tendrils between the leaves are supposed to be couched in a thinner pearl purl, but look at that awful drawing of the tendril above! We'll discuss that in another post.

Please click here to see the complete progress of the Golden Pomegranate.